BibleWorm

Episode 245 (Replay) The Joy of Sex (Song of Songs1:12-2:6 and 7:1-13)

On this episode from June 28, 2020, BibleWorm continues our summer series on the Forgotten Books of the Bible, turning our attention to Song of Songs 1:12-2:6 and 7:1-13. We wonder at the presence of erotic love poetry in the biblical canon and wrestle what it means for our understanding of bodies, sexuality, and God. We explore themes of sexual empowerment, invitation and consent, and the joy of sex. We think about how the Song invites us to admire and respect human bodies, challenging a culture that alternately shames and sexualizes bodies for profit. Mostly, we consider how this ancient text, set free in our churches and synagogues, might empower us to speak more authentically about human sexuality.

Episode 244 (Replay) Trauma Has Many Voices (Lamentations 3 and 5)

On this episode from June 21, 2020, BibleWorm continues our study of Lamentations, meeting an individual survivor in chapter 3 and hearing the voice of the community in chapter 5. We raise up the differences between this individual man’s relationship to his suffering compared to what we heard from Daughter Zion last episode, and look expectantly to the communal voice to tell us which perspective is the better on to adopt. Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t. Instead, in magnificent and strikingly ambiguous poetic language, it creates space in scripture to hold multiple perspectives on suffering.

Episode 243 (Replay) Trauma and Protest (Lamentations 1:18-22 and 2:10-22)

On this episode from June 14, 2020, ibleWorm continues our summer series on the Forgotten Books of the Bible with Lamentations 1:8-22 and 2:10-22. Written in the wake of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, Lamentations presents the community’s response to trauma given in multiple voices. This week we look at the voice of the funeral singer, a bystander who has witnessed the trauma but not experienced it, and Daughter Zion, the personified city of Jerusalem, who has experienced trauma and humiliation in her body. We talk about the role of protest in faith, the urgency of speaking truth before power, and the theological imperative to challenge God. We also think about the role of allies, who can recognize the pain of the traumatized, share in their sorrow, and encourage them to use their voices.

Episode 242 (Replay) For Everything There is a Time (Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 and 3:1-11)

On this episode from June 7, 2020, BibleWorm continues our look at Ecclesiastes, focusing on 1:4-11 and 3:1-11. We ask ourselves—is it really true there is nothing new under the sun? We look at that most famous poem “To everything there is a season,” and see exactly why you’d best not look at only the net total of life’s experiences. And we wonder what Qohelet might say about issues of justice in our time.

Episode 241 (Replay) Everything is Vapor (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 and 8:16-9:10)

In this episode from May 31, 2020, we return to our summer series on the Hebrew Festival Scrolls with a look at Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 and 8:16-9:10. We discuss Qohelet’s idea that everything is mere breath and ask what it means to live in a world where nothing adds up to much of anything. We talk about the inscrutability of God and why good people often suffer while the wicked get all the rewards. We ask whether it is possible to accomplish anything meaningful in life and, if not, how we might be better off to reorient our goals to enjoy the moments of each day, whether playing with a toddler or listening to the birds sing. Also, Amy asks what kind of person would use Ecclesiastes as a wedding text. Hint: It was not Amy.

Episode 240 The Fruit of the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4 & Galatians 5:16-26)

On this last week of the narrative lectionary season, we read Acts 2:1-4 and Galatians 5:16-26. We appreciate the way that Paul draws out and builds upon imagery and tradition from the Hebrew Bible at this moment of new community formation -- the winds, the fire, the role of language, all on the Jewish holiday that marks the giving of Torah at Sinai. We continue to wrestle a bit with the balance in community life between having explicit shared norms and having a shared horizon that each person moves toward through their own individual discernment. And we hear the imperative, from both Hebrew Bible and New Testament, to lift our eyes from our own interests to something much bigger and greater. 

Episode 239 Unity in Christ (Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29)

This week we continue our foray into Paul’s understanding of faith and Torah with Galatians 3:1-9 and 23-29. We discuss the relative roles of faith and practice in the drama of salvation and wonder whether finding God is like waiting at the bus stop hoping the God buss will roll by. We notice Paul’s appeal to the faith of Abraham and ask whether others can be faithful to God without knowing Jesus. And we wrestle with Paul’s idea that in Christ there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free. It’s a beautiful idea that comes dangerously close to erasing both cultural difference and systemic injustice. What do we do with that?

Episode 238 Faith and Torah (Galatians 1:13-17 & 2:11-21)

This week, we read Galatians chapter 1:13-17 and 2:11-21. It’s a challenging set of texts for an interfaith podcast, and a set of texts with a troubled history in the Jewish-Christian relationship. As we read, we wondered - what is the role of faith and of action in our relationship to God? When is the uniqueness of each person important, and when should we look past difference to similarity?

Episode 237 The Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-21)

This week BibleWorm reads the story of the Council in Jerusalem in Acts 15:1-21 in which Peter, Paul, and Barnabas debate with the Jerusalem church over whether Gentiles must follow the rules of the Torah. We discuss the need for boundaries and commonly-held practices that bind a community together. We wonder at Peter’s insistence that God works outside those boundaries and wrestle with the balance of tradition and experience. And we recognize that, no matter what boundaries we set, we must always be prepared that God might be working something new among us as God did among the Christians of the early church.

Episode 236 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-39)

This week BibleWorm reads Acts 8:26-39, a story of an Ethiopian Eunuch. We discuss the ways in which he would have been pressed to the margins of the Israelite temple community or other communities like it, and share the joy in his realization that there is nothing to prevent him from diving right square into this community of Jesus followers.  We see Phillip’s beautiful example of responsive, respectful sharing of the gospel. And we learn of a talented puppeteer from days past … we think you may know him.